Customer Reviews

105 Ways to Celebrate Menstruation

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I absolutely love this book! I started researching different books to share with my daughter for her menarche and this book is by far the tops. It will definitely be a part of the Red Moon Box that I am creating for her in celebration of her menarche. It is a great gift to give a young girl, but it also celebrates every woman's cycle throughout her entire reproductive years. Any woman, and every woman could find something in here to celebrate their female essence and being.

One thing I really loved (and NEVER would have thought of on my own) was finding a 2 fisted size rock that can be heated by the sun (or in Winter, hot water) to place on the abdomen during menstruation. The heat stays longer than with a hot water bottle, and the weight of the rock is also soothing. I am painting important signs and symbols on mine to add to the sacred experience.

The book is separated into 3 different phases of a woman's moontime. First is "Preparation," where you take time beforehand to gather the foods, personal and sacred space, emotional clearing, and tools, to support your own moontime. Second is the "Giving To Yourself," where it offers ideas to nurture you during your bleeding phase. I particularly liked the idea of making a beaded belt that I could wear to remind myself of this sacred time, that connects me to all my female ancestors that have went on before me. I also liked the suggestion to sit in my sacred space and think about what has taken place since my last moontime. As women, it is easy to forget ourselves when we are nurturing others. This time is a signal for me, to reflect on the month before, and make important changes for myself. This section offers many ideas to support one's self in body, mind and spirit, and to honor the intuition within that is heightened at this time. The next section is "Emergence," and it is a part I have sometimes forgotten to honor. I, like many women, I am sure, hit the ground running again (if I ever remembered to stop in the first place). This section offers suggestions to slow down and reflect before returning to the "doing" of the rest of the cycle. My favorite thing in this section is the part to ask myself, "What pearl of wisdom am I re-emerging with?" Or, "What is my image of what is sacred, valuable, reverent and holy about being a woman?" The last section shares recipes for teas,herbal baths,footbaths,foot scrubs,tinctures,body oils, body powders,dream pillows, and foods.

This book is a life affirming, celebration of women and our ability to tap into our own feminine essence and power. As women we are connected throughout time, since the first women, and we will be ancestors for the ones that follow. Choose this book if you are finding a call within yourself to reclaim the wisdom and positive expression of your nature. Moms, share this with your daughters. In sisterhood.....

Thank you so much for this wonderful book. I am so glad to have been given a new way to working with the menstrual cycle. I now see it as a tool for helping to live a healthier and more balanced lifestyle. Every woman could benefit from reading this book. I only wish that I would have had this information when I was younger.

A wonderful gift to myself...an honoring of me as a woman...a support for my fifteen year old daughter becoming a woman. The recipes, cycle celebrations and concepts are easy and fun!

First let me say that this is a book that every woman will react to differently, it could be five stars for some, two for others. There are no technical flaws, failures of logical thinking, etc. that would put it in one star range or another, the way some books are clearly three stars or five when looking over a high number of reviews. Therefore, if you have an inkling that this book might be for you, purchase it. What follows is my personal reaction, but I can easily see it as being a five start book for some.

While I am pleased with the positive view of menstruation that Kami McBride gives, the 105 ways to celebrate menstruation did not thrill me. I should have looked at the number of pages the book had before I bought it, as it was very short. Second, I expected more sophisticated project ideas and suggestions for ways to celebrate my period. For example, several of the 105 ideas is were simply to wear a certain article of red clothing. Not together as one suggestion, but each as an individual suggestion. So I don't consider the book as having 105 ideas. Drinking a glass of red wine simply does not count. There were quite a few I could have thought of on my own. Some were more interesting, such as setting up an alter during your cycle with certain objects, or sitting outside underneath a tree and menstruating on the ground. I wanted more project suggestions and journal prompts. I can't remember if she included this as a prompt or not (I gave the book away a few weeks ago), but when I read my little red book, ed. by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, which is a collection of menarche stories (I highly recommend it!), it made me want to write down my own memories. I wanted the book not just to contain positive ways to celebrate my cycle, but to further help me to examine my own feelings about it, to reflect more on what it means for me, how it is treated in society, to confront it directly. I guess her ideas are meant to bring that about, but they didn't do it for me. I wish she had talked about cloth pads more and other alternative feminine hygiene products. I think a great idea for her to include would have been including patterns for cloth pads for women to make themselves. You can find patterns online, but it didn't hit me that I could make cloth pads myself until someone else mentioned it. A project of mine was to cut a fountain out of cardboard and paint it red, then adding red or pink childhood objects to it, and a moon white stone. Overall, I think this book would be a great gift for teen girls at the point of menarche, or women who are just starting to explore their cycles. If you are in the beginning stages of learning about your period, addressing your and society's negative ideas about menstruation, and turning them into a positive view that strengthens you, I would recommended this book. If you are further down the road in this process and have already embraced your cycle, but want more in-depth ideas to explore it, you may want to pass this book up.

The back section of the book has some recipes for teas, foot soaks, bath soaks, and red foods, such a smoothies. It isn't very large. Some of the ideas I would have liked to try, but the ingredients were not not things I had on hand, such as mugwort and lots of lavender, and I don't have the money to buy them online. Thus unless you have the ingredients on hand or extra cash, the recipes likely won't be relevant.

I bought this book for my daughter after she started her period, moon time, whatever you like to name it. We both have read the book, separately and together. While there are some segments of this small book that speak to the wise woman in us, and may be over the heads of some of our younger girls (mine was 10 when she started), the thoughts and sentiments are supportive and full of beauty. The suggestions for how we can choose to view our cycles in a healthy and celebratory way brings out the wise woman in us all. There are many creative, inspirational suggestions that make our cycles an opportunity for inner awakening and individual clarity.

If you need a book which suggests practical advice for your bloodtime, this is the one. You won't find long and boring theoritical texts here, but short and pratical tips on how to celebrate your menstruation.

Another book affirming menstruation ~ if you looking for something short and sweet, this is a good fit!